Comp 1
Needs price and acres
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Add a positive price and acreage to score this comp
Knowledge BasePricing & Comps
Free Vacant Land Comp Worksheet & Comparable Sales Guide
Add your land comps, score how trustworthy they are, and turn the strongest sales into a raw price-per-acre and subject-value range you can explain.
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Free comp quality checker
Build a comp set you can defend
Score each sale for evidence quality, see the raw price-per-acre range, and get a shortlist of what to verify next.
Aim for 3–5 closed sales. Pending and active listings can add context, but they should not carry the same weight as verified sold prices.
Comp 2
Needs price and acres
—
Add a positive price and acreage to score this comp
2 of 6 comp rows
Directional worksheet only. It does not replace an appraisal, title work, a survey, engineering, or legal advice.
The fast, defensible comp process
Land comps get unreliable when every nearby parcel is treated as equal. Start wide enough to find evidence, then narrow the set using the facts a buyer would notice first.
1. Find
Start with closed land sales
Favor recent sales with a similar likely use. Keep pending and active listings in a separate context bucket.
2. Verify
Check the value-changing facts
Confirm access, utilities, usable acreage, buildability, zoning, restrictions, terrain, and premium features.
3. Rank
Use the strongest evidence first
Normalize price per acre, flag the weak rows, and explain why any older, distant, or mismatched sale still belongs.
What makes a land comp comparable?
Match the hard-to-fix value drivers before cosmetic similarities. A parcel with the same acreage can still be a poor comp if its access, utility path, or usable area is materially better.
Legal access
Public road, recorded private road, easement, or unclear/landlocked access.
Utilities
Power, public water/sewer, well feasibility, septic path, and realistic connection cost.
Buildability
Usable area, slope, drainage, flood context, wetlands, soil, rock, and site constraints.
Zoning & restrictions
Permitted use, density, setbacks, HOA or deed restrictions, and minimum build size.
Acreage & shape
Total acres, buildable acres, parcel shape, frontage, and subdivision potential.
Location drivers
Distance to town, road quality, views, water, trail access, schools, and buyer demand.
Where to find and verify land comps
Use MLS or brokerage sold history when it is available, then verify the parcel facts against public records and primary mapping sources. Do not rely on a listing description alone.
Local government records
Find county assessor, recorder, tax, parcel-size, ownership, and property-class records.
FEMA Flood Map Service Center
Check mapped flood context before treating two parcels as equally usable or buildable.
USDA Web Soil Survey
Review soil context that may affect agriculture, drainage, septic assumptions, or site usability.
Professional appraisal standards
Know when a preliminary seller analysis should become a qualified appraisal assignment.
County GIS layers, tax records, and listing fields can be incomplete or outdated. Confirm critical access, title, survey, utility, and permitting questions with the responsible professional or agency.
Adjust in the right order
Avoid false precision. Use the worksheet to identify the direction of an adjustment, then document the evidence behind it. The biggest land-value gaps usually appear in this order:
- 1
Access & buildability
Resolve landlocked risk, road quality, usable area, slope, flood/wetland context, and site feasibility first.
- 2
Utilities & entitlement
Compare realistic power, water, sewer/septic, zoning, restriction, and permitting paths.
- 3
Acreage normalization
Use price per acre as a check, but do not assume a 1-acre lot and a 40-acre tract trade at the same rate.
- 4
Premium features
Apply views, water frontage, mature timber, improvements, or recreation premiums only after the basics align.
Turn the comps into a range
A raw comp range is a starting point, not a final opinion of value. Use the strongest sales to define the evidence band, then choose a listing strategy based on confidence, market pace, and how well the subject compares.
Lower range
Use when speed matters or the subject has unresolved access, utility, buildability, or title questions.
Middle range
Use when the evidence is consistent and the subject is broadly similar to the strongest comps.
Upper range
Use only when verified features and presentation clearly support a premium over the core comp set.
Ready for the full pricing model?
The Pro Land Pricing Calculator adds acreage normalization, subject-to-comp comparisons, confidence weighting, listing strategy, and a downloadable pricing report.
Estimate my land value with compsAfter pricing, show the potential
Help buyers understand the best use
Turn a land photo into realistic concept visuals for a home, cabin, retreat, subdivision, seasonal view, or other buyer use. Keep the concept disclosure clear and separate from feasibility claims.
Before
Concept visualVacant land comps FAQ
How many land comps should I use?
Aim for three to five verified closed sales. In a thin rural market, use the best available sales, disclose the wider search area or older dates, and lower your confidence instead of pretending weak evidence is precise.
Can active land listings be used as comps?
Use active listings as competition and price context, not as proof of market value. Their asking prices have not been accepted by buyers. Replace them with closed sales when possible.
How far back should vacant land comps go?
Start with sales from the last six to twelve months. If the market is thin, extend the date range carefully and explain how market conditions changed between the sale date and today.
Is price per acre enough to value land?
No. Price per acre is a useful normalization check, but access, utilities, buildability, zoning, usable acreage, terrain, restrictions, views, and water features can create large differences between parcels.
Does this worksheet replace an appraisal?
No. It organizes preliminary listing evidence. Use a qualified appraiser when the value must support lending, tax, estate, legal, or other high-stakes decisions.
